The ghost ship

If the story of the Titanic sends chills down your bones then Octavius will freeze you to death.

And that's what happened to the crew of the ship, they were frozen to death.

If a person feels cold then it is their natural tendency to curl up their bodies or use blankets but unexpectedly this is not the scene that happened in Octavius, the entire crew was frozen in their states of doing tasks. Even the captain was frozen at his desk with a pen in hand, writing into the logbook.

It was as if the crew was frozen in the blink of an eye without even realizing it.

(much like how suddenly everyone fell asleep in sleeping beauty).

Okay, so the crew died eerily, but that does not explain why Octavius is called The ghost ship? it should be called a cursed ship, that would be more appropriate, wouldn't it!

Well, then here is the reason

In 1761, the sailing ship Octavius left the port of London with a cargo destined for China. when returning from China with goods destined for Britain, the captain of the ship decided to take the northwest passage, that was the last time the ship was seen. The Northwest passage was a route that was still unventured by the icy waters there, but the British crew was very keen to claim the northwest passage and add another achievement to their list.  The ship never made it to London port and went missing on the way.

The story should have ended here as the lost ship but that was not the case.

 In 1775 a whaling ship, Herald was working in the frigid waters of Greenland when it observed another battered ship floating nearby, they send a team for inspection of the ship. The team identified the ship as Octavius and was frightened at the sight that prevailed there. The captain was frozen in his cabin with a pen in hand as if writing something, behind him they found a woman frozen holding her child wrapped in blankets. Downstairs all the 28 crew members were found frozen while performing some work. The bodies preserved by the frost, made the team run in fright, back to their own ship. They were in such a rush to leave the ghost ship that they didn't bother to pick up the fallen pages of the frostbitten logbook they collected as evidence. Luckily the first and last page survived and the last entry of the captain was of 75N 160W on 11th November 1762, i.e. 250 miles north of Barrow, Alaska. As the crew of Herald thought Octavius was cursed they left it adrift as it was. Octavius was never seen again.

Interestingly, as the ship was found off the coast of Greenland, it did complete its voyage of passing the northwest passage even if the crew was not alive to celebrate their victory.

what makes the ghost ship even more intriguing, 

1. the ship did not sink even after being weather-beaten for 14 years.

2. the creepy position in which the bodies were frozen

3. The ship floating on its own and completing the voyage it was destined for

4. the ship never being seen again.

5. the stories that revolve around the northwest passage.

The major spooky alarm comes from the way the bodies froze-

How can a person be okay one second and suddenly freeze the next second? there must be a quick and sudden temperature drop for that to happen. So, quick that the people didn't even realize it.

The mystery gets even more interesting when in 1848, two ships H.M.S Erebus and H.M.S Terror were set to search the northwest passage for an exploration known as Franklin Expedition. None of the crew survived the voyage and the ships also went missing. After 170 years of searching the wreck of HMS Erebus was found in September 2014 and two years later in 2016 wreck of the other ship was found.

You may ask what stories revolve around the northwest and why people are so eager to claim it?

The Northwest Passage is a sea route that joins the North Atlantic and the North Pacific, by way of the Canadian Arctic.

Let's begin with the first fact that the northwest passage is not a natural route but was invented by British explorers on the map while finding the fastest route to China. once they marked it up they were eager to discover it and claim it as it would give them an upper hand in trade. The northern islands had rough weather which posed the greatest obstacle in navigating those waters.

Some facts state that the inhabitants of those islands were different from mainland people with different cultures and technologies, some of their advanced technology included Inuit sunglasses and Inuit shoes. There is a huge gap in cultural differences between the northern people and the mainlanders. while the northern people were thought to be as harsh as the climate there the mainlanders were seen as greedy and deceitful by the northerners. This difference was like a dead end to the successful discovery of the route.

Another important point is that even after a ship sinks its remains can be found as was the case of HMS Terror and HMS Erebus but the remains of Octavius were never found. So, where is the ghost ship now?

The northwest passage was explored in 1903-1906 by Ronald Amundsen, his crew was able to survive the thick fog that surrounded these islands. But even after its successful navigation the Northwest passage still remains a place shrouded in mystery, with the unsolved case of Octavius and the disappearance of other ships, this place will always remain an area of attraction for the mystery seekers all around the world.

(What do you think happened to Octavius? write in the comments)

                                                                                   blue rose belles

Archie 

x

The Secret Behind Christmas

🔔🔔🔔

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way.

Oh what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh, hey!

The time has come for chilly winter mornings, fog-covered skies, red and white striped sweaters with a cup of hot chocolate and freshly baked goods along with our favourite Christmas carols on loop.

No matter how old are you Christmas is the time to be a child again and spend quality time with our loved ones.

Do you know why Christmas is celebrated?

to celebrate the birth of Christ

Well, you are technically right

except a teeny tiny detail is missing that most of us don't know

December 25th is not the day Jesus Christ was born!

Shocked!

Well, I was too when I came across this fact.

According to old scriptures, the actual birthday of Jesus Christ is assumed to be the 6th of January. Then why do we celebrate the wrong birthday of the son of god?

To answer this question we have to travel back to the 4th century.

it was the time when Christianity was gaining over Europe and pagan worship was struggling for existence. As most of the pagan worshippers were killed or tortured because the church saw it as a form of satanic worship. it wasn't a favourable time for both the teams. So, to avoid more bloodshed and to unite European countries, the church started including some pagan rituals into Christianity. the rituals were so intricately interwoven in Christianity that nobody doubted it. And at that time raising questions against the church was also punishable, so ...

So, Pope Julius I announced 25th December to be celebrated as the birthday of Christ.

Why 25th December? you may ask

 

because just 3 days before, the 22nd of December is the winter solstice, a day that was widely celebrated across Europe in various forms.

The date selected was so clever that by 5th century Christianity emerged as a major religion of Europe.

Why was winter solstice celebrated?

Because winter solstice marks the end of the harsher part of winter, as the day is supposed to be the coldest and has longest night. so in one sentence it is celebrated to say goodbye to woolens and waking up before sun.

What could be the similarities between Christmas and festivities performed during winter solstice?

well, since winter solstice was performed all over the world in different forms so there are various rituals we will come across

let's start with Rome.

In Rome the festival of saturnalia was celebrated during this time, slavery was banned and everyone was treated as equal. there was also grand feasts and gift-givings. In ancient Rome the pine trees were seen as sacred and an essential part of goddess' groves and were also brought home and decorated.

In Persia, the victory of light over darkness was celebrated in form of Yalda. in this festival people use to light candles and fires to ward off darkness along with feasts.

in China, Donghzi festival is celebrated, which is one of the most widely celebrated festival by Chinese people and the significance of the festival is to celebrate the seasons turning point towards warmer and lighter days of spring.

But the most significant, of all of this is the the old pagan celebration of  winter solstice - yule

According to pagan beliefs Yule is the birthday of sun rather than the birthday of Jesus. there is a story of two twin kings Oak king and Holy king , the Holly king is considered to be the king of waning period of sun and thus he use to rule from midsummer to Yule time (winter solstice) and during Yule he would surrender his throne to his younger brother the Oak king, the ruler of waxing period. both of them are considered to maintain the harmony of seasons and fight for the love of goddess. although many researchers consider them to be the same person.

A point to be noted in this context is the western world used to follow a sun calendar , where there seasons, months days and important times wee all based  on the position of sun. that's why the zodiac symbols are also called sun signs, So the sun held a huge influence and significance in rituals and beliefs of people.

Yule was also observed in old Germany, scholars have found some connections with the historic Germanic tradition and the wild hunt of Odin.

Now, you would be surprised to know that how much of the old traditions are still followed today in Christmas.

The first one is the concept of evergreen trees, yew, iris, ivy, were seen as sacred, though there is no historic proofs, if the trees were decorated or not, some scholars believed that that Christmas tradition of decking the halls was implemented from this old pagan tradition.

the concept of mistletoe came from this old tradition along with use of wreath to protect homes from evil and keeping them warm with love.

The famous Christmas tree or Yule tree was is thought to be introduced during Victorian times by  German prince albert. It was believed that bringing live pine trees into the house and decorating them with candles kept the houses safe and warm, as the wood spirits would be pleased. ( I don't think they would be very pleased if you empty the forest in the name of festival though).

Sometimes Christmas is also referred to as Yuletide or Yuletime, due to the similarities between the two. but now we know which one originated from which one. Though it is very plesant to see how Christmas  is celebrated throughout the world irrespective of the religion of person. It has truly become a widely accepted and loved festivals of time.

🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕

Merry Christmas to everyone

blue rose belles        

   (Archie)   🎕        

Durga

Durga puja is the life and soul of Bengal, a ten-day-long festival for the ten-handed goddess. Goddess Durga is like a mother figure and so calling her Ma Durga feels much warmer. She is also called Dashabhuja and Mahisasuramardini.

She is a mother, 

a warrior,

 the epitome of power, 

the power that runs the universe, 

shakti,

She has ten forms, 

some that are motherly and gentle,

 some fierce and dangerous.

And so it is said 

the same woman, 

who is gentle and calm, 

can be fierce and perilous.

So beware!

Before you call them weak.

As the puja season has begun ...

So, it is the perfect time for sitting with a cup of chai or coffee along with some pakoras and delve into the very interesting Indian mythology.

Before we begin let us know about three major gods of Indian mythology

Bramha - the god of creation

Vishnu/ Narayan- the protector of the universe

Shiva- the destroyer

According to mythology, the universe revolves around three major concepts creation, propagation and destruction. Destruction leads the path to the creation of a new era. 

Pretty simple right!

Nah ! as I try to explain the concepts you will just get caught up in a cobweb of confusion.

Before I come to the legend of Durga, let me tell you about Sati and Parvati.

Goddess Sati was the first wife of  Lord Shiva, she was the daughter of  Daksha Raj. Now, Daksha Raj was not very fond of his son-in-law. It so happened that Daksha Raj wanted Lord Shiva to bow in front of him since he is the elder in a relationship. But as Lord Shiva is one of the three main gods he refused to bow as that would be a sign of immense disrespect to the gods.

Daksha Raj's hatred towards Lord Shiva was so immense that he refused to accept Sati as his daughter. One day he organized a yajna ( a kind of puja) and invited everyone except his daughter and son-in-law.

Now, for any yajna offering tributes to Lord Shiva is important but Daksha Raj said that he will complete the yajna successfully without including Lord Shiva.

After hearing the news Sati was enraged and wanted to confront her father but lord Shiva warned her not to interfere with her father's affair, as he may insult her badly. This is the time that Sati showed Shiva her true form that she is not weak but powerful, and showed the different forms she has taken to kill numerous asuras. Lord Shiva was shocked to find out that his human wife was actually the Shakti so in the end he hesitantly accepted her request and let her go.

Now, when she arrived at her father's palace, he was in the middle of the yajna but Sati stopped him by saying no yajna can be completed without Shiva that is when everything started going downhill. The argument between father and daughter turned heated and he started insulting Lord Shiva. Sati who couldn't tolerate the disrespect of her husband decided to release her soul from her body. So she decided it was better to die than to hear her father insult her husband.

Lord Shiva felt her soul leaving her body and went ballistic. Since he is the god of destruction, you can imagine how much chaos his rage could create. Let me make the picture clearer he killed Daksha Raj with his Trishul (trident). Then took the lifeless body of his wife and started a dance of destruction ( tandrav). His emotions were storming inside grief, rage, and loss ( can you imagine a God who is immortal losing his beloved so early). His dance was so intense that the creation was on the verge of destruction.

All the gods were terrified since no one was able to stop him. At this point, Vishnu figured out that as long as he saw the dead body of his wife he wouldn't stop. So Vishu used his chakra to cut Sati's body into  52 pieces. Those pieces fell in different parts of India where according to the legend shrines were built later.

After realizing his wife's body was no longer on his shoulders lord Shiva fell down in devastation and the tandrav stopped. So the world did not end that night.

Years later Parvati was born to Himalaya and his wife, she was the reincarnation of Goddess Sati. She was a loved and cherished princess whose heart was already given to Lord Shiva. Her parents were also worshippers of lord shiva and were immensely pleased to marry off their daughter to him. But it was not easy for Parvati to be noticed by Lord Shiva. Parvati took the task of worshipping Lord Shiva wholeheartedly while he was deep in Tapasya (meditation). Now, Lord Shiva wanted to test her loyalty, so he disguised himself as a Brahmin. The Brahmin approached Parvati and said that she should marry a rich king rather than a god who lived like a beggar but Parvati replied that if she married someone it would be none other than Shiva.

 Lord Shiva was pleased with her answer and agreed to marry her and they lived happily ever after!

Nops!

Happily ever after happens in fairytales, not in mythology, at least not when you always have a bunch of asuras wreaking havoc frequently and a God who always grants amazing wishes which leads to disaster.

One of these Asuras was Mahisasura, Mahish means buffalo and asura demon. Since Mahisasur could shapeshift into buffalo and is also known as the buffalo demon.

Now Mahisasura was an immensely ambitious person, he wanted to achieve all three realms, Swarga ( adobe of gods), Marta ( adobe of humans), and Patala ( adobe of demons) and so he began to worship Brahma. 

After doing Tapasya for years, Brahma was pleased with him and decided to relieve him of his duty. So Brahma visited him and offered to grant him a wish. But there were terms and conditions, he could not wish for immortality, so Mahisasura being his smartass self asked that no man, animal, or god could kill him. His wish was granted making him ecstatic, he thought that he was immortal as no god, man or animal could harm him now, no matter what he did.

And the show begins, Mahisasura concurred the whole of Patala and Marta without any difficulty, torturing innocent souls and rampaging life. The minor gods being terrified of his power decided to approach the council.

The council now is very funny they had no idea what was going on below until the Marta was completely conquered. 

So what were they doing all this time?

Watching Apsaras dance while munching on snacks. 

Now, let me make it clear the three major are not included in the council, maybe because they are actually busy.

Coincidently, while the council was having such relaxing entertainment, after a long discussion period, Mahisasur barged in with his army and trampled the whole area. Some of the gods tried to fight him but in vain. So they fled.

Yup, you heard me right!

The gods fled from Swarga and came running to Kailash - the adobe of Lord Shiva.

Lord Vishnu and Lord Bramha were also informed of the situation and they also arrived at Kailash. Lord Vishnu found the loophole in the wish and decided to send a woman to fight Mahisasuara.

So, the three major gods created a powerful form with the Jyoti released from their third eye, the form was taken up by Parvati and the goddess Durga was born.

Each god gifted her some weapon and so in the end she had nine weapons in her ten hands and a lion.

She went into the battle like a fierce warrior, yet keeping her motherly features intact.

When Mahisasura saw Goddess Durga he laughed out loud. he couldn't believe the gods sent a woman to fight him. Goddess Durga warned him not to consider women as weak and that his death was written in her hands. Mahisasura was enraged hearing her words, when the gods and bravest of men are afraid of him what will a pitiful woman do but if she wants to fight then be it.

And so the war continued...

On the eight days, Mahisasura understood that the lady standing in front of him was no ordinary woman to mess with and his death was imminent. So, before they began fighting Mahisasur bowed in front of goddess Durga and asked her permission to worship her before fighting. The goddess was startled but nevertheless, she agreed, after doing the puja Mahisasur asked her to bless him so that he could do his best in the fight since he would be dying soon. The goddess was flabbergasted, she said that she would let him live if he gave back the Swarga and Marta, but he refused. he replied that if he had to die he would go down on the battlefield like a gallant person and by her hands. The goddess was pleased with him and said that whenever she would be worshipped by people Mahisasuara would also be worshipped with her.

On the evening of that day, Goddess Durga plunged the Trishul straight through Mahisasur's heart, ending a reign of terror.

Thus, the good won over the evil. 

Once again.

                                                                                      

blue rose belles

(Archie)       

 

THE MYSTERY OF THE LEANING TEMPLES OF INDIA

You have heard about the leaning tower of Pisa, but do you know about the leaning temples of India.

Well, then I present to you, the leaning temples of India. - Huma and Ratneshwar Mahadev Mandir 

HUMA, SAMBALPUR

There are three temples of Huma the main temple along with two small temples the main temple is dedicated to lord Bimaleswar while the other two temples are dedicated to Bhairo and Bhairavi Devi  .

Driving into a little history, the main temple was first built by Emperor Anangabhima Deva-III while it was renovated by King Ballar Singh, the fifth Chauhan king. The other two temples were built during the rule of Ajit Singh.

Now, if you notice carefully the main temple is actually tilted in one direction while the other two temples are tilted in another direction. And it is not only the temple that is tilted but also the gates and boundary.

It is interesting to note that the reason of the tilt is still unknown. There is no architectural default and the fact that the main temple was built way before the other two just elimnates the suspicion of it being a creative idea.

Some belief that the tilt happened due to the shifting of rock beds below. Which is a possible theory since the temple is situated on the banks of river Mahanadi.

But!

Let me tell you I had the luck of visiting that place and came to know some interesting facts from the locals. 

One of them is that anything that is built on that land gets tilted. 

Astonishing !

But true since, it is not only the temple that is tilted but the small shops near it are also slightly tilted. That is everything on the temple premises is tilted.

Some belief that the tilt could be because of some unknown geological factors but if that was the case then why is it that the tilt has not changed at all and not to mention the tilting at different angles.

Interesting, is the fact that even though the edifice of temple is tilted the pinnacle remains perpendicular and the centre of gravity is so well balanced that the mysterious tilting has also not disrupted the architectural structure.

But if you think that the leaning nature of temple is the only interesting thing, then you are so wrong!

The legends revolving around this temple are even more intriguing than the temple itself.

The first one is how the Huma wad found. The story revolves around a cow and milkman.

Yeah you heard me right no need to make faces.

So, this milkman was curious when he found the cow's uder dry everyday, so one day he followed his cow ( I have never heard about a cow stalker before. Well, there is always a first time right!). He saw her secreting the milk on a stone that was absorbing it. 

(Ok so now we have a milk drinking stone)

On observing further he noticed that the stone looked like a linga, ( a structure that is the symbol of lord Shiva).

After this episode everyone thought that place was holy and decided to built a shrine there. This is how the temple of Huma came into existence.

As I said before the temple is not the only attractive feature of Huma, just beyond it lies the eye capturing Mahanadi, for all the travellers here, it is a site to see.

The water is so clear that you can see the grass below and also the large swarms of fishes.

A certain type of fishes called Kudo fish are considered sacred and so fishery is completely banned here. Feeding the fishes are as seen as holy guestures.

Now, time for the second legend.

There are two abnormally large fishes in this waters. These special  fishes are said to be seen only  during shivratri. And anyone who sees at least one of them is considered to be immensely lucky and something good will happen to them while if they see both of the, one of their wishes will be granted. 

This legend somehow remind me of a story I used to hear in childhood, of three magical, colourful fishes that also use to grant wishes and were sacred but whenever they were caught for the king , they used to magically vanish from the kitchen and reappear in the pond.

Now, most of you will laugh at wish granting fishes at first I had the same thought, I mean I believe there could be those fishes but come on wish granting fishes are a little far fetched. 

But it was in the hotel that we were staying that we heard the story to be true. The manager of the hotel told us that those fishes are almost 6 feet large and there are some people who saw them , he himself had seen one. Another thing that he said was something good and unexpected did happen to those who saw these special fishes. 

I seriously don't know if the linga still drinks milk or if the fishes really have wish granting powers. But if anyone is lucky enough to see them please wish for Corona to leave us alone.

 Ratneshwar Mahadev Mandir, Varanasi

Besides being a leaning temple, it is  also partially submerged underwater for most of year. 

Unlike Huma, Ratneshwar temple is situated on the waterfront, of Mahakarnika ghat. It is the major tourist attraction of the city with a tilt of 9 degrees i.e. five degrees more than Leaning tower of Pisa.

 So, travellers this is another place to add to your bucket list after Corona is gone. 

Still not convinced to visit. 

Well, then let me tell you about the history and legend of temple.

Now there is a debate on who actually built the temple . So, it could have beern built by a servant of Raja Man Singh of Amer, or a servant of Ahilya Bai Holkar or by Baziya Bai , queen of Gwalior.

According to one of the legend it was built by a servant of Raja Man Singh for his mother. but after the completion of temple , he proudly boasted that he has repaid the debt to his mother. Since the debt of a mother can never be fulfilled so she cursed this temple and it began to fall backwards.

Well, at least we have some sort of mythical explanation about the tilt.

BUT!

Let me be honest neither you nor i believe this theory 

i don't know your reason but my reason is this picture.

It seems Ratneswar was not the ony leaning temple built on waterfront.

 There is this widely accepted theory, that the other temples were washed away by the current of Ganges and Ratneswar was the only temple to have survived.

But won't there be anything left behind, anything at all, that shows that these temples ever existed.

Not only that, in some rare early paintings the Ratneswar temple is shown uptight, suggesting that the temple may have started tilting in early tweentienth century.

So , the culprit of the tilt was some structural defect and high current of water. 

Now the question is, Why is the temple built on waterfront?

 was the temple always meant to be submerged in water? if yes then why?

Not to mention if other temples are washed away, then Ratneswar is also threatened to vanish one day without trace.

A temple is built for religious offerings but if the shrine of the temple is  almost always underwater, then how can some one do the required? Is it's sole purpose religious offering or something entirely different!

Hope we uncover the answers, one day.

 

Till then tell me your conspiracy theories about these temples, which one do you like more and would love to visit (in the comment section).

                    

                                          Archie          

( blue rose belles)